SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Late in the going Saturday, with the ruthless on-field jack-hammering dulled for polite conversation, Jonas Gray tugged at his coach. The senior tailback glanced at a scoreboard that ultimately read 59-33 in favor of Notre Dame and, after some torturous years, he barely believed his eyes.

So Gray felt compelled to let Irish coach Brian Kelly know: That was the most points he ever had seen on that scoreboard.

"He looked at me and said, 'We're just getting started,'" Gray said.

The demolition of Air Force again dared everyone to reinvest their full-blown faith in what Kelly is building because Notre Dame (4-2) won its fourth straight game by looking like what you would expect Notre Dame to look like in Kelly's sweetest dreams.

OK, allowing Air Force (3-2) to accrue 565 yards — including 363 rushing — is no one's defensive Valhalla. But the Falcons scored just two touchdowns when it mattered. And 560 yards of Irish offense, including seven players scoring eight touchdowns on 10 possessions with zero turnovers?

It was like watching a pack of starving mutant termites voraciously and meticulously devour all in its path.

"We're getting closer," Kelly said. "We have not arrived. The pieces are starting to come together for us. We're getting there."

With consecutive complete outings, Notre Dame's gait has hastened. The Irish scored touchdowns on all six first-half possessions Saturday, including four Tommy Rees touchdown passes to four receivers — none of the drives requiring more than 31/2 minutes to hit pay dirt.

The 42 first-half points were the most in any half since 1990. The final tally eclipsed the 50-point barrier for the first time since 2003 and represented the most prolific output since a 62-point showing in 1996. Offense was like going through a turnstile, every click a milestone.

"When things are going good," tight end Tyler Eifert said, "this is what we expect to see."

The defense was pierced too much for comfort. Still, the Irish forced two turnovers — both by safety Jamoris Slaughter — to nudge Air Force off kilter. And surrendering two touchdowns on the first 10 drives is manageable.

"You never say, we're going to give up a lot of yards and keep them out of the end zone," safety Harrison Smith said. "That's kind of how it played out. But if you keep a team off the board, they're not going to beat you."

Notre Dame no longer is beating itself with forehead-slapping mistakes, and teams can't solve the defense enough to keep pace. It's a Kelly-approved formula. It can explode at any moment. It hasn't lately.

On Saturday, the Irish jogged into an off week serenaded by chants of "Beat S-C!"

The Trojans arrive in two weeks, and Notre Dame has reason to believe it can comply with the request.